Santa Clara County Seeks Injunction Against Trump Sanctuary Order

SAN FRANCISCO - Santa Clara County asked a federal judge in San Francisco Thursday to grant a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking an executive order by President Donald Trump that would deny federal funds to sanctuary cities, counties and states.

The county's motion was filed as part of a Feb. 3 lawsuit in which it challenged Trump's Jan. 25 executive order.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick is scheduled to hold a hearing on the request in his San Francisco courtroom on April 5.

U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole Navas said, "We're reviewing the motion and will respond to the court."

The deadline for the department to file its written response on behalf of Trump and other administration officials named in the lawsuit is March 9.

Trump's executive order would withhold federal funding from local governments that his administration deems to be "sanctuary jurisdictions" that shield undocumented immigrants from deportation by federal authorities.

The county alleges the order is "patently unconstitutional."

"It usurps and expands Congress's spending power in a naked effort to coerce state and local governments, including plaintiff County of Santa Clara, into enforcing the Trump Administration's immigration agenda," county lawyers wrote.

The motion argues that only Congress has the power to determine federal funding and that the order illegally requires local governments to enforce a federal regulatory program.

Trump's order "brazenly disregards fundamental principles of federalism and separation of powers that define our republican government," the motion claims.

The filing says the county last year received $1.7 billion in federal or federally contingent funds, or 35 percent of its total revenue. It says the loss of those funds would cause "immediate and devastating injury" to the county's 1.9 million residents.

County operations harmed would include the Valley Medical Center, serving low-income, elderly and vulnerable people, social services, public health programs and emergency services, the brief said.

"We are defending Santa Clara County's core values and the values of so many cities and counties across the nation," said Board of Supervisors President Dave Cortese.

"There is no justification for withholding nearly $1.7 billion in funds used to deliver essential county services such as medical care for infants and children simply because our county adopted policies that reflect the welcoming, inclusive values of our community," he said in a statement.

The county's current policy is to honor a federal request to detain an immigrant jail inmate beyond his scheduled release date only if the individual has been convicted of a violent or serious crime and if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement pays for the cost of the additional time in custody, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was originally filed in the San Jose branch of the Northern California federal court, but was transferred to Orrick because he was already handling a similar lawsuit filed by the city of San Francisco on Jan. 31.

The San Francisco lawsuit is scheduled for a case management conference before Orrick on May 2.

- Bay City News / Image via UpstateNYer Wikimedia